Gauging apparatus for liquid containers



y 1939- J. H. WIGGINS 21,157,196

v GAUGING' APPARATUS FOR LIQUID CONTAINERS Filed Nov. 5, 1937 a x n s H 1 m m N T &5; m m W I V T K H K A JOHN MW 6 7 3 6 7 ap I. \y D 3 D 3 D 3 D 8 3 l5 E 4 1 1| rlllli ll [II I y J C t FIG. 4.

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Patented May 9, 1939 UNITED s-TaT-Es PATENT oEFicE GAUGING' APPARATUS FOR LIQUID CONTAINERS John H. Wiggins, Chicago, Ill.

Application November 5, 1937, Serial Nb. 172,936

8' Claims.

This; invention relates to. devices of: the kind that are used on. liquid storage tanks and other containers for enabling the tanktobe gaugedand.

for permitting; a. sample: of thestoredi liquid. to. be

removedfromthe tank for. testing purposes;

Thermain object of.my'invention.isatoprovide a:

gauging apparatus. for storage tanks: that com.-

prisesaagauge. well locatedinsideof. thetank and; ameansaof novel construction forestablishingand:

cutting, oft communication; between said. W811 and the space.- in the .tank in. whichthe liquid?isl=storediv whereby liquid may be: trapped: in; the; well for gauging or test. purposes, or, free and unobstructed:

circulation. of. the.- liquid from; thelwell'r to. the; tank. and vice versatmay-be. established. @ther objects; and: desirable" features; 0t my, invention will be.

of. the tankshowing: the. parts of: my; improved gauging, apparatus; that, are; arranged: on; the. extei rior; oil the:tank..

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary viewipartly in elevation and partly: in: section, illustrating the watenpassageway attheslower endofithe gauging.

W611: and therlowermost oilipassagewayfor establishing communication. between: the. well and thev interior of'thetank;

Figure-41s a sectional view illustratinghow'my inaentionmaybe appliedi to aliquid storage tank:

DROYVidEdiWHJhI a breather; type;ro.ofj and Figure.- 5 is; a. detailed. view. illustrating. how the passagewaysextending frornzthetankztothe gauging: W611i may; be constructed: in; the event. it is= desiredito; have an. apparatus whosecontrolivalves.

may be removed:foninspection,.repair or'replacement without taking the. tank:out:of:'service.

In-lthe; accompanying drawings which illustrate. the preferred formopmyv iny.ention,.A designates: at container such, for: example; as: a. metal: tank;

that is used to store oil :c;.B'designatesaistationary;roof;forrsaid:tank: thatprotectsuthe contents of the tank from the atmosphere, C. designatesi a. gauging-1 well. arranged. preferably inside: of; they tank; and proyidedlat itsiupper-J end: with a; remov able gas-tight cover l carried by a manually openable.- operating device; 2;. 3 designates1 a1 series-of passageways, hereinafter: referred tOf for: convenience: as oil passageways, that"; are. arranged. at. different: levels throughout the;- heighth oil the :well; 0.; 41designates =a waterl passagewaysatthe' extreme lower end oft'the gaugingzwelllwhichlleads-to-the extremelower end ofitheltank; and 5 designates a gas passageway at the upper end of the tank which leads to the upper end of the gauging well. The oil passageways 3 above referred to are used to permit the oil or other liquid stored in the tank to circulate into and outof the gaugingwell and are arranged suflici'ently' close together so as to insure.

that the: liquid will normally stand in the gauging Well at the same; heighth or. level as the: liquid in the. tank, the water passageway, Of course, being."

used toxpermit-water to pass from the tank into thev gauging well and stand at-the same heighth therein asthe: water at the bottom of the: tank, and-.tlielgas passagewayS being: used to establish or. maintain-a corresponding: pressure in the upper end portions of the well and tank.

Control valves D are: arranged-in the oil= passageways 3 and control valves E and Fare arranged in! the water. passageway 4 and gas: p'assageway 5, respectively; so i as toestablish and cut oit communication between the interior of the tank and the interior of: the. gaugingwe'll: through the said passageways, the said valves being com:-

bined: with. an operating mechanism arranged: on the. exterior: offthe tank'sc asto enable said valves to. belopen'eci and closed easily. The'va1ves -D,.E-

and F preferably. consist of. lubricated plug cocks and the stem of each or: said valves is: provided with: azcross armfii whose opposite. endsare pivotallyi connected Tr to. operating links 8 as showninl Figure 2; whereby all of the: valvea may be moved in unison. to open. orclose. the'same; 'Ilhe gauging. welLC. is preferably form'edrby a relatively large metal: pipe; say: from six: to eight inches in diametenarranged vertically'insidei of the tank A. adjacent: the side wallof same: and: having. its. lower end connectedxby a tight joint-to. thebottom of! the: tank The: upper end v portion. of: the. pipe which. constitutes the. gauging-t well projects. up-

wardly throughithe roofiBiof.thatankandis c0nnected to same by a gas-tight joint,.the:removablel cover: of the gauging: welll being located: on the exterior of-the tanlcas'ashown inFigurell the specific details of construction .of-ithe passageways that establish communication between the tank: andthe xgauging well are: not essential so far asLmy. broad. idea is concerned Iprefer to: provide each: of. the oil passageways-3% with". a vertically disposed: portion in which. the cont-rol valve is: located; and connect th'elower end of said vertica'lly disposedportioniby a laterallbranchwith the interior of"th'e'.tank.- andFconnectLtheaupper end of said; portion by: a laterallbranoh with: the. interior of thei gaugingswell, .so asto insure:a.const'antcirculati'on between. the. tank; and the gauging; well *due to the thermosyphon. action: set? up by: the

verticalirunsain-the passagewaysl ii ancl t'hadifference in temperature of theliquid in: said vertical runs from the temperature of the liquid in the When'allbf the control valvesare 'open; the gaa and liquid pressure inside of the well C is exactly the same as in the tank A; therefore, the liquid level inside the Well is exactly the same as the liquid level inside the tank. Also, a true average While:

sample of the liquid in the tank is in the well C because the passageways 3 are arranged close enough together to attain this end. Moreover, there is a constant circulation between the tank and the well due to the thermosyphon action as previously explained. By varying the length of the vertically disposed portions of the oil passageways 3 the thermosyphon eiifect can be varied to meet existing conditions. When all of the valves D, E and F shut, then the liquid heighth in the well C cannot change because it is trapped from the liquid and internal gas pressure. Accordingly, it is possible to open the cover I at the upper end of the gauging well and release any pressure or vacuum inside the well without changing the liquid heighth in the well and, moreover, without danger of losing any vapor from the tank. The tank can now be gauged in the well and later sampled from the well. Although the thermosyphon effect will carry oil of a slightly difierent temperature from the tank to the gauging well, the volume of this is so slight compared to the volume in the well and, furthermore, there is such a rapid interchange of heat between the well and the contents of the tank, that any difference of temperature between the liquid in the tank and in the gauging well is negligible and much less than is practical to measure.

In an apparatus or" the construction above described, the tank can be gauged without exposing the contents of the tank to the air and other advantages of such an apparatus are that it insures an average sample of the contents of the tank in the gauging well, it permits a test sample to be removed without the necessity of measuring the internal pressure of the tank, it enables the gauging well to be positively out off from the tank simply by operating a mechanism located in the exterior of the tank and, as the control valves D, E and F are arranged on the outside of the tank, they may be easily checked, lubricated or adjusted. If desired, the apparatus can be constructed so that the control valves can be entirely removed and replaced by other valves while the tank is in service, such an apparatus being illustrated in Figure 5 of the drawing, wherein each of the passageways between the tank and the gauging well C is equipped with two manually operable auxiliary valves 9 and [0 arranged on opposite sides of the control valve in the passageway.

In Figure 4 I have shown how my invention may be applied to a tank A provided with a breather type roof B that is adapted to flex vertically upwardly and downwardly to vary the volume of the vapor space of the tank. When my invention is applied to such a tank, the gauging well C projects upwardly through a hole H in the roof of the tank that is surrounded by a collar I2, said collar l2 being joined by an annular-shaped element l3 made of weather and oil proof fabric to a flange or collar M on the exterior of the vertically disposed pipe that constitutes the gauging well C. In all other respects the apparatus shown in Figure 4 is the same as that shown in Figure 1.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patcut is:

1. In a liquid storage apparatus, the combination of a container for holding the liquid, a

gauge well located inside of the container and a plurality of passageways arranged at different levels on the exterior of the container, each of said passageways having a portion that communicates with the interior of the container and a portion that extends through the side wall of the container and communicates with the interior of the well.

2. A liquid storage apparatus comprising the combination of elements specified in claim 1, plus a removable closure for the well that establishes atmospheric pressure in the well when said closure is open.

3. A liquid storage apparatus of the kind described in claim 1 equipped with a manually operable means for initiating and cutting ofi circulation of the liquid from the container to the well and vice versa.

4. A liquid storage apparatus comprising a container for holding the liquid, a gauge wall, and a plurality of passageways located at different levels for establishing communication between said container and well, said gauge well being located inside of the container and a majority of said passageways having vertical portions located on the exterior of the container.

5. An oil storage apparatus comprising a con tainer or tank for holding the oil, a gauge well on the interior of the tank provided with a removable closure operable from the exterior of the tank, means for permitting the oil in the tank to circulate from the tank to the well or vice versa at a plurality of difierent points along the height of the well, a water passageway extending below the bottom of the container for establishing communication between the extreme lower end of the well and the bottom of the container, a gas passageway leading from the upper end portion of the container to the upper end portion of the well, and a control means for said passageways.

6. A liquid storage apparatus comprising a tank for holding the liquid, a vertically disposed gauge well in said tank projecting upwardly through the roof of the tank and provided at its upper end with a means which provides access to said well, passageways on the exterior of the tank communicating with the interior of the tank and with the interior of the well for causing the well to be normally charged with liquid which stands at the same level as the liquid in the tank, the upper portion of the tank being connected by a gas duct with the upper portion of the well, and means operable from the exterior of the tank for positively preventing circulation of any liquid or gaseous medium from the tank to the Well or vice versa, preparatory to the operation of gauging the tank or removing a test sample from the well.

'7. An apparatus of the kind described in claim 6, in which the passageways on the exterior of the tank are located at different levels and each passageway comprises a vertically-disposed portion.

8. A liquid storage apparatus of the kind described in claim 6, in which the roof of the tank is of the breather type and the gauge well is stationarily mounted and is joined with the roof by a gas-tight connecting element which permits the roof to move relatively to the well.

JOHN H. W'IGGINS. 

